Project Title: Harnessing novel technology and approaches to monitor and improve
productivity of UK broiler breeders
Supervisor(s) names: Professor Tom Pizzari (Oxford University) & Dr. Santiago Avendano
(Aviagen®)
Department(s)/Organisation(s): Department of Zoology, Oxford University, R&D, Aviagen®
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 07826522776
Deadline: July 31st 2017
Brief description of project:
This project presents an exciting opportunity to conduct novel research at the interface between
basic and applied, by studying mechanisms of sexual selection to better understand and improve
fertility in flocks of fowl, from the ancestral red junglefowl to industrial broiler breeders.
The project builds on on-going BBSRC-funded research by the supervisors, and will use a range of
novel techniques (e.g. molecular real time genotyping, network statistics, fertility assays and remote
tracking technologies) to study social and physiological mechanisms modulating variation in fertility
across individuals and flocks. The goals of the project will be to resolve fundamental questions in
sexual selection and use these insights to develop strategies optimising fertility in managed
populations, such as UK broiler breeder flocks. The project is expected to illuminate the role of key
genomic regions in fertility-related processes and generate novel and publishable results.
Representative publications from research team
 Borziak et al. 2016. The Seminal fluid proteome of the polyandrous Red junglefowl offers
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insights into the molecular basis of fertility, reproductive ageing and domestication.
Scientific Reports 6: 35864
Carazo et al. 2014. Within-group male relatedness reduces harm to females in Drosophila.
Nature 505, 672–675.
Collet et al. 2012. Sexual selection and the differential effect of polyandry. PNAS 109, 86418645.
Dean et al. 2010. Male reproductive senescence causes potential for sexual conflict over
mating. Curr. Biol. 20, 1192-1196.
Pizzari, T. & Foster, K.R. 2008. Sperm sociality: cooperation, altruism, and spite. PLoS Biology
6, e130.
Lovlie et al. 2005. Male mounting alone reduces female promiscuity in the fowl. Curr. Biol. 15,
1222-1227.
Pizzari et al. 2003. Sophisticated sperm allocation in male fowl. Nature 426, 70-74.
Birkhead T. R. & Pizzari T. 2002 Postcopulatory sexual selection. Nature Rev. Genet. 3, 262273.
Pizzari T. & Birkhead T. R. 2000. Female feral fowl eject sperm of subdominant males. Nature
405, 787 – 789.
(This project is supported through the Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training
Partnership (DTP) studentship programme. The student recruited to this project will join a cohort of
students enrolled in the DTP’s interdisciplinary training programme, and will be able to take full
advantage of the training and networking opportunities available through the DTP. For further
details please visit www.biodtp.ox.ac.uk.)
Attributes of suitable applicants:
 Passionate about research, strong academic record, hard-working, reliable
 Interest in/expertise of the following areas:
o Sexual selection/Sperm competition/Fertility
o Multivariate statistics/ Network metrics
Funding notes:
This project is funded for four years by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
BBSRC. BBSRC eligibility criteria for studentship funding applies
(http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/documents/studentship-eligibility-pdf/). Successful students will receive a
stipend of no less than the standard RCUK stipend rate, currently set at £14,553 per year, which may
be supplemented by the industrial partner.